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Colombo:
Captain Shahid Afridi cast a spell taking four wickets as as
Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 11 runs in a World Cup Group A match at
the R Premadasa Stadium here Saturday.
Electing to bat, Pakistan put on 277/7 with Misbah-ul-Haq (83 not
out) and Younis Khan (72) leading the charge.
Afridi (4-34) then followed up his five wicket haul against Kenya
with another stellar performance with the ball. He provided the
breakthroughs whenever the team nedded them. Sri Lanka nedded 18
runs from the last over and could reach 266/9 in 50 overs.
Comeback fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar (2-42), Umar Gul (1-60) and
spinner Mohammad Hafiz (1-33) gave good support to Afridi, who
excelled on a slow wicket.
Sri Lanka made a good start with Upul Tharanga (33) and
Tillakaratne Dilshan (41) scoring 76 runs in 14.2 over. But they
fell in quick succession. Haffez removed Tharanga and Afridi got
rid the dangerous Dilshan.
Mahela Jayawerdena was bowled by a incoming Akhtar delivery and
Thilan Samaraweera fell to Afridi.
Kumar Sangakkara (49) and Chamara Silva (57) added 73 runs for the
fifth wicket. The Sri Lankan captain was dismissed by Afridi as he
went to accelerate and holed out in the deep. Chamara took 115
balls and was never comfortable against the spinners. He batted
for a while but Pakistan bowlers by then had the match in their
grip.
Pakistan could have had Sri Lanka bowled out much earlier but for
the fielding mishaps. They dropped some sitters and wicket-keeper
Kamran Akmal had a bad day behind the stumps.
Earlier, Misbah, the Pakistan vice-captain, struck his second
consecutive fifty in the tournament - while Younis Khan followed
his 50 against Kenya in Hambotata with a 76-ball 72.
The senior duo put on 108 off 123 balls for the fourth wicket to
give Pakistan a respectable total to defend.
Pakistan was placed at 105-3 when Misbah joined Younis and
together they made good use of the middle overs.
The Pakistanis, however, failed to make the most of the last 10
overs including the batting power-play as they were tied down by
veteran spinner Muttiah Muralitharan and Nuwan Kulasekera.
Murali, playing his last World Cup, finished with impressive
figures of 1-35 in his ten overs. He gave away just five in his
last two overs during batting powerplay. Fast bowler Kulasekera,
too, was impressive as he bowled several dot balls during the
death overs.
For Pakistan, Kamran Akmal scored 39 off 48 balls while opener
Hafeez chipped in with a 31-ball 32. Left-arm spinner Rangana
Herath, who replaced Ajantha Mendis, picked up 2-46 while Thisara
Perera finished with 2-62.
Scoreboard
The following is the scoreboard of
the Group A match of the World Cup between Pakistan and Sri Lanka
at the R. Premedasa Stadium here Saturday:
Pakistan:
Ahmed Shehzad c Sangakkara b Perera
13
Mohammad Hafeez run out 32
Kamran Akmal st Sangakkara b Herath 39
Younis Khan c Jayawardene b Herath 72
Misbah-ul-Haq not out 83
Umar Akmal c Dilshan b Muralitharan 10
Shahid Afridi c Dilshan b Mathews 16
Abdul Razzaq c sub (Kapugedera) b Perera 3
Extras (lb 4, w 5) 9
Total (for seven wickets in 50 overs) 277
Fall of wickets: 1-28 (Shehzad, 5.3 overs), 2-76 (Hafeez, 13.1),
3-105 (Akmal, 20.2), 4-213 (Younis, 40.5), 5-238 (Umar, 45.3),
6-267 (Afridi, 48.5), 7-277 (Razzaq, 49.6)
Bowling:
Nuwan Kulasekara 10-1-64-0
Thisara Perera 9-0-62-2
Angelo Mathews 10-0-56-1
Muttiah Muralitharan 10-0-35-1
Rangana Herath 10-0-46-2
Tillekaratne Dilshan 1-0-10-0
Sri Lanka:
Upul Tharanga c Afridi b Hafeez 33
Tillekaratne Dilshan b Afridi 41
Kumar Sangakkara c Shehzad b Afridi 49
Mahela Jayawardene b Shoaib 2
Thilan Samaraweera st Kamran b Afridi 1
Chamara Silva st Kamran b Rehman 57
Angelo Mathews c Shehzad b Afridi 18
Thisar C Perera b Shoaib 8
Nuwan Kulasekara c Umar b Gul 24
Rangana Herath not out 4
Muttiah Muralitharan not out 0
Extras (b 1, lb 10, w 16, nb 2) 29
Total (for nine wickets in 50 overs) 266
Fall of wickets: 1-76 (Tharanga, 14.2 overs), 2-88 (Dilshan,
17.3), 3-95 (Jayawardene, 20.2), 4-96 (Samaraweera, 21.2), 5-169 (Sangakkara,
37.4), 6-209 (Mathews, 43.4), 7-232 (Perera, 45.5), 8-233 (Silva,
46.0)
Bowling:
Shoaib Akhtar 10-0-42-2
Abdul Razzaq 5-1-23-0
Umar Gul 9-0-60-1
Mohammad Hafeez 6-0-33-1
Shahid Afridi 10-0-34-4
Abdur Rehman 10-1-63-1
Toss: Pakistan and chose to
bat
Result: Pakistan won by 11 runs
Man of the Match: Shahid Afridi (Pakistan)
Umpires: Ian Gould (England) and Daryl Harper (Australia)
TV umpire: Nigel Llong (England)
Match referee: Chris Broad (England)
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